Products of the year: Award winners recognizedProducts of the year: Award winners recognized

Award winners recognized Equipment, software solutions get the thumbs up

Oil & Gas Engineering’s annual product of the year awards recognize significant innovation and advancement in technologies and best practices. In this December issue we announce the award winners.

To any observer, what first impresses is the sheer scale and scope of the oil & gas industries, entailing more information than anyone could absorb in a lifetime.

The selections below demonstrate how incremental but telling innovation in automation and information technology is being applied to processes or equipment categories that have been with us for quite some time.

These innovations include a new generation of machinery management software for proactive monitoring of equipment, especially the rotating kind; digital twins for use in risk evaluation management; advances in pressure pumping and in portable data collection; and incorporation of machine learning into connection integrity evaluation.

While what matters most is the efficacy of the solutions in the real world of dollars and cents, the satisfying of our collective curiosity about how things unfold pays for itself.

IIoT & process control

 GOLD AWARD WINNER

Condition monitoring, diagnostics software

The System 1 version 19.1 software platform offers a modern and intuitive interface that enables users to establish, manage and improve their plant-wide condition monitoring programs. Bently Nevada’s System 1 has achieved broad adoption around the world in process-intensive industries. The platform has been continuously enhanced since its launch and has been redesigned to meet the cybersecurity requirements, diagnostic expectations and user experience of engineers and information technology professionals. System 1 upgrades adhere to a bi-annual release rhythm with user-driven enhancements, expanded connectivity and compliance with the most recently updated operating systems and security patches. https://bently.com

 SILVER AWARD WINNER

Operational risk management software

Operational Risk Management (ORM) Digital Twin software brings together the data collected from enterprise systems, mobile applications, sensors and human-derived inputs as part of an Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) strategy to produce a computer-generated risk map. This allows companies to obtain a simulated view of their operational risk in real time on SpheraCloud. The technology includes an early warning system that makes all risk exposure visible, prominent and available in real time. This is designed to help reduce organizations’ vulnerability to high-potential near-misses and major hazards. ORM Digital Twin technology allows companies to improve their risk management capabilities while improving productivity and managing costs. https://sphera.com

 BRONZE AWARD WINNER

Cyber threat detection software

Guardian version 18.5 protects control networks from cyber attacks and operational disruptions. It provides superior operational visibility and rapid detection of cyber threats, plus processes risks through a passive network traffic analysis. Guardian automatically discovers an entire industrial network, including assets, connections, protocols and topology. It monitors network communications and behavior for risks that threaten reliability and cybersecurity, and provides the information needed to respond quickly. Guardian delivers asset identification, network visualization and real-time monitoring, industrial control system (ICS) threat detection using a hybrid approach, enterprise-class scalability when deployed with the Central Management Console, and easy integration and sharing of ICS and cybersecurity information with information technology/operational technology infrastructure. www.nozominetworks.com

Machines & Equipment

 GOLD AWARD WINNER

Quintuplex frac pump

The SPM EXL Frac Pump is a quintuplex pump with a rod load rating of 238,000 lbs., and is designed as a drop-in replacement for existing QWS 2500 pumps and other 2500 pumps. The SPM EXL Frac Pump’s frame is constructed with an integrated skid designed to reduce vibrations across the frame and increase stiffness, thus reducing stress on the weld. The frame also drastically reduces the number of internal groove welds to reduce cracking. All welds are located on the outside of the frame, making them more accessible. To address the higher stresses put on the gear system from high torque encountered when operating at high rod loads, the gears and pinions are redesigned utilizing the latest manufacturing techniques to provide greater surface area contact on the bull gears and reduce the risk of stripping them. www.global.weir

 SILVER AWARD WINNER

Portable data collector

SCOUT200 version 19.1 is a smart, intrinsically safe and portable data collector that is fully supported by System 1 condition monitoring and diagnostic software. SCOUT200 integrates with the suite of portable and monitoring products that enables data analysis from a comprehensive suite of condition monitoring and protection devices in a single software solution. Eliminating the need for a PC or other software package, the data collector works in tandem with the System 1 Collector app that runs on an industrial smartphone or handheld tablet. Users can collect vibration data, take photos, send text messages, check email, make phone calls and run other applications, all on one device. https://bently.com

 BRONZE AWARD WINNER

Casing, tubular connection evaluator application

Traditional methods of evaluating casing and tubular connection make-up graphs rely solely on training and operator experience. The Intelligent Connection Analyzed Make-up (iCAM) application removes human subjectivity by giving the operator a suggested connection disposition along with diagnosis and prescription of remedy if an anomaly occurs. iCAM is an automated connection integrity evaluation system that uses machine learning and big data analytics to “learn” from historical data and make recommendations to assure connection integrity. The iCAM application is designed to reduce personnel on board and reduce or eliminate the need for connection lay down and rework to achieve cost savings. The system provides an accurate, consistent and reliable evaluation of connection integrity. www.franksinternational.com

Advances in Flowmeter Proving for Shale Fields

Brian Hoover | Business Development Manager, Endress+Hauser

The oil and gas production renaissance in the U.S. has resulted in a large number of allocation and custody transfer meter installations. These installations are driving an increased need for “proving” or calibrating flow measurement points used for transactional purposes. Meeting these calibration requirements in oil and gas fields is particularly difficult because shale plays are often in remote and isolated locations, far from proper maintenance facilities.

Flowmeter proving must be conducted on a regular basis due to regulations, legal contracts and validating accurate internal transfer of product. EPA regulations on reclaimed water used in fracking also require frequent flowmeter testing.

This increased demand, coupled with a shortage of staff and systems, has created a “calibration crisis” in many shale fields. The solution to this problem lies with better methods for calibration.

Rather than removing flowmeters for shipment to calibration labs, recent developments—now being deployed in the Permian Basin—bring flowmeter calibration to the shale fields. Instead of relying on ball provers, piston provers or master meters, recent developments make it possible to bring a “calibration lab” to the shale field. For example, Endress+Hauser is working with a third party to deploy its HP80 (US patent pending 15/605,562) Field Reference Meter Standard for mass, density and volume determination under existing operating conditions. This solution is also being adopted for calibration of tanks and level instruments.

This type of field reference meter standard system provides field metrologists and calibration specialists with the metrics, tools and information needed to measure and manage all primary measurements in the upstream, midstream and downstream segments of the oil and gas market, including shale fields.

A typical calibration takes 30-45 minutes per meter including connection, test report generation and disconnection time. Field trials have shown these types of field reference meter standard systems can calibrate two to four times faster than a conventional ball or piston prover, with much greater accuracy on a mass basis.

Download the paper at: https://bit.ly/2Kzc35x